Removing School Resource Officers (SROs) from public schools

School resource officers (SROs) were removed from Des Moines Public Schools in 2021 after the work of dedicated students. We support the removal of cops from all classrooms and educational settings. The use of violent force by cops against students has grown in recent years and their inaction in school shooting events such as Uvalde, TX reminds us that their role is not to protect property, not humans.

In the fall of 2022, DSM BLM organizers worked alongside students at the University of Iowa College of Law’s Community Empowerment Law Project (CELP) and the National Center of Youth Law (NCYL) to develop the Getting Cops Out of Our Classrooms Toolkit, a resource we hope other students and school districts can use to remove SROs.